Printable Blank Guitar Chord Charts
Pages of blank chord diagrams — vertical string lines, horizontal frets, a heavy nut at the top and a ruled line above each box for the chord name. The format every guitar method book uses to show a chord shape.
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- Exact-scale vector PDF
- Letter, A4, Legal & more
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36pt is half an inch — safe on virtually every printer.
Free, no signup. Print at 100% scale (not “fit to page”) so the measurements come out exact.
Live preview — US Letter (8.5 × 11"), portrait · updates as you change any setting.
How to read a chord box
The vertical lines are strings, running low E on the left to high E on the right — the view you'd get looking at the guitar held upright, facing you. The horizontal lines are frets, with the thick line at the top representing the nut. Dots mark where to press; an O above a string means play it open; an X means don't play it. That left-to-right string order is the opposite of tablature's, which is a genuinely common source of confusion.
Open position and beyond
The heavy nut line means the diagram starts at the first fret, which is right for open chords. For barre chords and shapes further up the neck, switch the nut off and write the starting fret number beside the top of the box — the standard way to indicate a movable shape.
Layout and fret count
Four or five frets per diagram covers virtually every chord shape. Five is the safer default: it fits stretched voicings and most jazz shapes without running out of room. Increase the number of columns and rows to fit more chords per page for a reference sheet, or use fewer, larger boxes when teaching beginners.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I read a guitar chord diagram?
Vertical lines are strings (low E on the left, high E on the right), horizontal lines are frets, and the thick line at the top is the nut. Dots show where to press, O means play the string open, X means don't play it.
Which way round are the strings?
Low E is on the left, high E on the right — as if the guitar were held upright facing you. Note this is the reverse of tablature, where the high E is the top line.
How do I write a barre chord shape?
Turn the nut off so the top line is an ordinary fret, then write the fret number the shape starts on next to the top of the diagram. Draw a line or bracket across the strings the barre covers.
How many frets should each diagram show?
Five is a good default — it accommodates almost every chord shape including wide jazz voicings. Four is fine for basic open chords and fits more diagrams on a page.
Printing Tips
- Print at 100% scale.Turn off “fit to page” and “shrink oversized pages” — otherwise your printer rescales the sheet and the measurements no longer match.
- Match the paper size. Choose the same size here as the paper in your tray. Printing a Letter PDF on A4 (or the reverse) scales it.
- Lighter lines print better. A light grey or blue guides your work without competing with it — and it uses far less ink.
- Use heavier paper for wet media. 100gsm and up for fountain pens and markers; standard copier paper is fine for pencil.